Hood latch



P 65 1950 A. CLAUD-MANTLE 2,523,814

H001: LATCH Filed July 20, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 P 1950 A. CLAUD-MANTLE2,523,814

HOOD LATCH Filed July 20, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 A. CLAUD- MANTLE Sept.26, 1950 HOOD LATCH s Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 20, 1946 Patented Sept.26, 1950 HOOD LATCH Arthur Gland-Mantle, Trumbull, Conn, assignor to TheBassick Company, Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of ConnecticutApplication July 20, 1946, Serial No. 685,026

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to hood latches, and

more particularly to those in which the auto.

mobile hood is of the alligator type, the lid of.

the hood being liftable from the front of the car.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an improved hood latchof the type in which the lid carries a depending'latch member which isadapted to be gripped and held within a gripping device carried by thelower stationary part of the hood.

Another object is toprovide for very secure fastening of a latchingmember in the form of a latching post or shank, the latching memberbeing firmly held against movement or play during the travel of thevehicle.

Another object is to provide improved means for acting upon and holdingthe latching post or like member and for effecting its release when itis desired to open the hood.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig; 1 is a side elevation, with parts broken away and with some partsin section, showing a hood latch embodying the invention, the latchbeing in the latchedposition;

Fig. 2 is an elevation; with some parts broken away and some partsomitted; showing. the latch illustrated in Fig. 1, looking from thefront end of the car;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3'3- of Fig. 2';

Fig; 4-is asection: at right" angles to Fig. 3;

Fig. 5-is a section on line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a viewsimilarto Fig. 3, with parts omitted, showing the latchin the released position, the lid being raisedtoa certain extent;

Fig. '7- is a section at right angles to Fig. 6, showing the parts inthe same position;

Fig. 8 is a section on:line 88" of Fig. 7';

Fig. 9is-a sectionon line'99 of' Fig. 7;

Fig. 10 is a somewhat diagrammatic sectional view illustrating theaction in releasing the latch;

Fig. 11 is a side elevation, partlyin section, showing a latch. ofsomewhat modified form;

Fig. 12 is a view taken at rightangles to Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a section on line [3-43 of Fig. 12-;

Fig. 14 is a sectiononline. Ill-54 of Fig. 13;

Fig. 1-5 is asectionon line l5l 5 of Fig. 12; and

Fig. 16 is a section on line IG IE, of Fig. 12;

In the embodiments selected for'illustration,

the automobile hood is of the alligator type hav ing a lid whichisliftable from the front end of thecar,. and has a hinge locatedadjacent the rear end of the engine enclosure: Thelatching mechanism.includes a. depending latching member generally in the form of a postcarried by the lid adjacent the front end of the lid, and adapted to beengaged by a gripping device 10-. cated within the upper part of thestationary member of the engine enclosure. The latching post isfiXedto-a transverse mounting plate car-- ried by the lid, and thegripping device'is carried by a mounting plate supported in andextending transversely of the lower stationary hood member. The grippingdevice is constructed to receive and center the latching post when thelid is lowered, and the usual springv isemployed in association with thetwo hood. members, acting to separate them to a certain extent as soonas the latch is released. There is also preferably associated with thelatching mechanism a safety hook or other safety. device acting tolimit. lifting of the hood when the safety device is in the normal oractive position. The gripping device for gripping. the latching post andholding the lid in the closed position has, of course, associatedtherewith means whereby the latch can be released, and it is preferredto have the releasing means operable from. the interior of the carthroughthe use of a suitable member, such as a flexible pull member.

In the drawings, the lidis shown at 2B, the lower hood member at 2!, themounting plate carried by the lid at 22, the mounting plate on the otherhood member at 23, the latch post carried. by member 22 at 24, and thelid-lifting spring at 25. The member 24 is preferablyconstructed in themanner hereinafter described. The gripping device carried by themounting plate 23: isindicated generally at 26; The pull cable. leadingfrom the gripping device to the interior of thecar is shown at 27!, andan operating knob fixed to the pull cable within the interior of the caris. shown at 28. The safety catch previo-usly'mentioned is shown at 29.In the form shown this catch is provided with a hook and is in pivotalrelation tothe plate 22 and adapted to engage in the usual manner underaportion of a rib tl to be hereinafter described, when the hook is in thenormal position. The hook is manipulable by means of a manipulating armor pad 29 The latching post 24 is preferably of somewhat larger crosssection adjacent its upper end than ity' it is preferably provided withan enlargement or head that is secured to plate 30 in any suitablemanner, as by riveting or upsetting. Plate 3i)? is attached to plate 22.The spring 25 is a helical spring which surrounds the post 24 and hasitslower end received in a cup 3| which is slidably mounted on the postand is adapted to take up against the upper part of the gripping device26 when the lid is in the latched position, as shown in Fig. 4, at whichtime the spring is under considerable compression. The part of thegripping device with which the cup 3| makes contact is, in this form, aplate 31 suitably supported from mounting plate 23, said plate 3P havingmarginal reinforcing ribs 3| extending transversely of the hood.

That portion of the post 24 which engages within the gripping member 26is preferably.

flattened in cross section so as to have opposite substantially flatfaces, and preferably the cross section of this portion of the latchingmember is elongated in a direction lengthwise of the hood. The oppositelarger faces are adapted to be engaged by gripping elements forming apart of the gripping member, as hereinafter described. The front andrear end surfaces or edges provided on the flattened part of the latchpost are preferably slightly rounded, as shown in Fig. 5, but notnecessarily so.

The gripping member 26 in the form of the device shown in Figs. 1 to 10,inclusive comprises a. plate member upon which are mounted movablegripping devices adapted to engage the opposite fiat faces of the latchpost, and this plate member just mentioned includes the plate 3P andlikewise a plate 32 which underlies plate 3|, said two plates providinga two-lply member having a slot 33 into which the latch post can enteras it moves downwardly.

The movable gripping elements above mentioned are respectively indicatedat 34 and 35, both being mounted from the slotted plate structure intowhich the latching post enters. In the form shown, the element 34 is ofthe nature of a pivoted plate member spring-pressed into engagement withthe latch post, and the element 35 is in the nature of an abutmentagainst which the latch post is pressed for holding the latch inposition, the abutment being normally fixed in position but beingdisplaceable relatively to the adjacent side face of the latch post forthe punpose of releasing the latch.

In the form shown the gripping plate 34 is pivoted to the supportingplate structure by providing plate 32 at one side with a downturned andinturned flange 36, which flange forms a recess in which is received onemargin of plate 34. The latter plate is provided with a hole 31 throughwhich extends a guide post 38 serving as a mounting for a coiled spring39. This spring is interposed between the lower surface of plate 34 andan enlargement 40 at the lower end of the guide post, and the upper endof the guide post has a suitable connection with the plate structure 3132 whereby it is suitably supported. When the parts are in the positionshown in Fig. 4, the spring urges the right-hand portion of the plate 34upwardly to cause pivotal movement of the plate and gripping engagementthereof with the latch post, the plate when engaged with the latch postbeing at an angle to the horizontal, the right-hand edge of the grippingplate (Fig. 4) being somewhat lower than the left-hand edge.

The abutment 35 in this form of the device is mounted betweenflange-like walls 4!, 42 with which the plate 32 is provided at thefront and rear, respectively, of the latch mechanism. This abutmentcomprises a round rod portion 43 that is mounted in the flanges 4!, 42by providing suitable openings in the flanges. At one point in itsperiphery the rod portion 43 has a flat 44, but normally the roundportion of the rod engages the adjacent side face of the latch post, asshown in Fig. 4. An arm 45 is suitably fixed to one extremity of the rodportion or shaft, and a spring 46 serves to connect the outer end of arm45 to a stationary part such as a lug 41 projecting from flange 42. Thisspring 46 normally holds the rod portion or shaft in the position shownin Fig. 4. At the opposite end of the rod portion an arm 48 is fixed inposition, said arm serving as a means whereby the rod portion can beturned on its axis. The arm 48 is connected to the forward end of thecable 21 in any suitable manner. In this form, arm 48 is provided with astop surface 48 adapted to engage plate 3| so as to prevent arm 48 frommoving clockwise beyond the position shown in Fig. 2.

The flat portion 44 of the shaft 35 is preferably substantially widerthan the shank portion 24 of the latch post, as shown in Fig. 5. At itslower extremity the latch post is preferably tapered, as shown at 24*,to a reduced edge. The lower extremity of the latch post is somewhatwider than the main shank portion, and there is thereby provided ashoulder 24 against which the cup 3| rests when the lid is in a raisedposition. Normally the spring acting upon the gripping plate 34 holdssaid plate in the position shown in Fig. '7 where its right-hand portionis against the upper plate structure. The free edge of the grippingplate will then lie in the downward path of the latching post. Thenormal position of the shaft 35 is as shown in Fig. '7. The flat 44 willnot only enable the latch to be released, but it will facilitate entryof the latching post into the gripping device.

The lower member of the latch having the position shown in Fig. '7, thelowering of the lid will cause the pointed extremity of the latch memberto engage the gripping plate from above and tip the right-hand edgedownwardly, and the rod portion at the opposite side of the latch postmay, if necessary, be moved somewhat against the action of its spring topermit the post to enter between it and the gripping plate, and the postcontinues its movement until it reaches the fully latched position shownin Fig. 4. In this position the spring 39 urges plate 34 upward andholds it in a wedging and gripping position. The rod portion 35 acts ingeneral as an abutment against which the latch post is forced by plate34, but in this particular form the rod portion also has a certainresilient gripping action tending to grip and wedge the post across itsflat side face along the line where the round surface of the rod portionand the planar surface thereof meet each other. Thus in this particularcase the right-hand gripping element (Fig. 4) is yieldingly urged tohave a contacting corner or edge portion grip the latch post.

In order to release the latch the cable 21 is pulled, and this willswing the rod portion in a counterclockwise direction with reference toFig.

'4, with the result that the latch post will be released, and, havingample lateral clearance, will rise under the action of spring 25. Thisaction is shown in Fig. 10, which is a somewhat exaggerated view, and itwill be seen that when the planar face of the rod portion is broughtsubstantially parallel to the opposing face of the latch post, the latchpost can rise freely without being obstructed by the right hand edge ofthe gripping plate.

In the modified form shown in Figs. 11 to 16, inclusive, the variationfrom the form previously described resides principally in the characterof the abutment against which the latch post is held by the pivotedspring-pressed gripping plate.

In this case the abutment is a rotary member, as before, and it may, asbefore, be shifted against the action of a controlling spring byoperation of a pull cable or the like from th interior of the car.However, instead of turning on a generally horizontal axis, it turns ona vertical axis. It will not be necessary to refer to the structure ofthe pivoted gripping plate, as this is the same as in the first form,but it will be noted that in this form the dual plate structure of thelower latch mechanism comprises an upper plate 49 and a lower plate 58between which is mounted a short venticah shaft i carrying an. abutment52 adapted to engage the right-hand face (Fig. 14) of the latch postalong a vertical line of contact in a region somewhat above the regionwhere the clamping plate engages the post. Here the abutment isconstitutedby a round member eceentrically located onv the shaft 5!, aswill be seen in Fig. 16. Shaft M has suitable bearings in the plates 49and 50, and above plate $9 an arm 53 is fixed to the shaft, the free endof which arm has a lug 5% for connection to the pull cable 21*.Intermediate of its nds the arm 53 has connected to it one end of a coilspring 55, the opposite end of which is connected to plate l9 at 55.Through the action of spring 55 the eccentric abutment member 52 isnormally held in the position shown in Fig. 16, in which position a partof the eccentric is projected out of a slot 5? formed between portionsof plates 49 and fill so as to engage the latch post in the manner shownin Figs. 14 and 16. The slot 5'! is a lateral slot in communication witha generally upright slot 58 which is provided in the top plate structureof the lower latch member to receive the latching post. In this form theplate 49 has an upwardly offset portion 59 in which a part of the slot58 is formed; and the cup on the lower end of the hood-opening spring isadapted to rest on the portion 59 when the hood is in latched position,as shown in Figs. 13 and 14. 1

It is noted that, in both of the forms shown, the gripping portion ofthe latching post has its horizontal cross section elongated in adirection longitudinally of the hood. This arrangement facilitatesproper gripping cooperation between the latching post and the grippingmeans irrespective of slight inaccuracies in assembling the hood partsand latch parts. In the form shown the elongation of the shank crosssection of the latching post is somewhat greater at the lower extremityor tip than elsewhere.

In the forms described the latching member is vely effectively grippedwhen the hood is in the latched position, and noise and wear resultingfrom looseness or play of the parts is prevented or largely overcome.The release of the latch can be readily effected by movement of theabutment member against which the latch shank is forced by the grippingmember at the other side of the latch member. Moreover, the device isrelatively simple in structure and relatively inexpensive.

Two embodiments are shown in the drawings,

but it is to be understood that various changes in the organization ofparts and in the details may be made without departing from theprinciples of the invention or the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a hood latch, a rigid post-like latching member adapted to becarried by one part of the hood and having opposite flat sides, and agripping means adapted to be carried by the other part of the hood forgripping the latching member, said gripping means including a rotarygripping member with a gripping edge adapted to make line contact withthe adjacent flat side of the latching member transversely of thelatching member, said gripping member having a cylindrical surfaceportion and a planar surface portion meeting said cylindrical portion.

2. In a hood latch, a rigid post-like latching member adapted to becarried by one part of the hood and having opposite fiat sides, andgripping means adapted to be carried by the otherpart of the hood forgripping the latching member at said flat sides, said gripping meansincluding a rotary shaft member adapted to turn on a substantiallyhorizontal axis, said member having .a gripping edge portion provided onthe surface of the shaft to engage the adjacent flat side of thelatching member, said shaft having meeting cylindrical and planarsurfaces providing said gripping edge portion.

3. In a hood latch, a rigid post-like latching member adapted to becarried by one part of the hood and having opposite flat sides, andgripping means adapted to be carried by the other part of the hood forgripping the latching member at said fiat sides, said gripping meansincluding a rotary shaft member adapted to turn on a substantiallyhorizontal axis, said member having a gripping edge :portion provided onthe surface of the shaft to engage the adjacent flat side of thelatching member, said shaft having meeting cylindrical and planarsurfaces providing said gripping edge portion, said shaft beingspring-controlled to hold it normally in a predetermined angularposition.

4. In a hood latch, a rigid post-like latching member adapted to becarried by one part of the hood and having opposite flat sides, grippingmeans adapted to be carried by the other part of the hood for grippingthe latching member at said flat sides, said gripping means including arotary shaft member adapted to turn on a substantially horizontal axis,said member having a gripping edge portion provided on the surface ofthe shaft to engage the adjacent flat side of the latching member, saidshaft having meeting cylindrical and planar surfaces providing saidgripping edge portion, said shaft being spring-controlled to hold itnormally in a predetermined angular position, and means for moving saidshaft angularly so as to release the latch.

5. In a hood latch for an alligator-type hood, in which the hood lidcarries a post-like depend ing rigid latch member, a gripping device forthe latch member having an upper slotted plate structure into which thelatch member enters from above, said plate structure carrying at oneside an abutment for the latch member and being provided at the oppositeside with a marginal inturned flange, a gripping plate received in thespace provided by said flange so as to be pivoted for up-and-downmovement relatively to the plate structure, said gripping plate havingan opening therein between its edges, and a post member depending fromsaid plate structure and passing through said opening and carrying aspring below the gripping plate which acts to force the free edge of thegripping plate against a side face of the latch member, the abutmentabove mentioned being displaceable to release the latch member.

6. In a hood latch applied to an alligator hood in which the hood lid isliftable from the front end and carries adjacent the front end a rigiddepending latching member adapted to be engaged and held by a grippingdevice carried by the lower stationary part of the hood, a latchingmember in the form of a post of elongated flattened cross sectionpresenting opposite fiat faces, a member mounting said latching memberrigidly from the lid in pendant position so that the elongation of itscross section is disposed longitudinally of the hood, and a grippingdevice mounted within the lower stationary part of the hood and adaptedto grip and hold the latch member by engaging its opposite fiat faces,said gripping device comprising an upper plate having a slot to receivethe latch post and also comprising separate gripping members adjacentthe respective faces of the post, one of said gripping members beingspring-pressed and operable from a distance to release the post.

'7. In a hood latch for alligator-type hoods, a rigid post-like latchingmember carried by the lid of the hood adjacent the front end and ofelongated flattened cross section so as to present opposite fiat sidefaces, said member being elong- 8 I ated longitudinally of the hood, anda gripping device carried by the lower stationary part of the hoodadapted to grip and hold the latching member, said device including anupper plate having a receiving slot for the latching member disposedlongitudinally of the hood and also including spring-pressed movablegripping members located adjacent the respective fiat faces of saidlatching member, one of said gripping members having as a part thereof ashaft providing a turning axis for said member, and means connected tothe shaft and operable from a distance for turning said shaft.

ARTHUR CLAUD-MAN'ILE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

